Rockstar Games co-founder and vice president of creativity Dan Houser clarified comments that he made this past week in which he described "100-hour weeks" of work during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2. Houser says that he was referring solely to the four-person senior narrative team, that the long hours were a choice made by the team, and that such hours are not expected of anyone else in the company.

"That additional effort is a choice, and we don’t ask or expect anyone to work anything like this."

According to Houser, his comments were specifically referring to himself and three others on the senior narrative team at Rockstar: Mike Unsworth, Rupert Humphries, and Lazlow Jones. Having worked over twelve years together, Houser says that this group has decided on a process that resulted in a three-week crunch for Red Dead Redemption 2, where the team worked up to 100-hour weeks to "check and finalize everything."

Houser would go on to describe the attitude that Rockstar employs with regards to crunch company-wide:

"Across the whole company, we have some senior people who work very hard purely because they’re passionate about a project, or their particular work, and we believe that passion shows in the games we release. But that additional effort is a choice, and we don’t ask or expect anyone to work anything like this. Lots of other senior people work in an entirely different way and are just as productive – I’m just not one of them! No one, senior or junior, is ever forced to work hard. I believe we go to great lengths to run a business that cares about its people, and to make the company a great place for them to work."

The interview in which Houser originally made his "100-hour week" statement was misinterpreted, he says now. The new statement, which was provided to Kotaku, should then be considered the official company stance regarding crunch.

The initial comments made by Houser were met with disapproval in an industry increasingly aware of harsh working conditions for game developers. 80-100 hour work weeks are routinely reported on, as game studios rush to meet release dates or other deadlines. These crunch periods can often result in no increased pay due to most developers being salaried, but it is the health of developers that remains the core worrying issue at hand. Crunch can hurt developers both physically and mentally, never mind the impact on their lives outside of development.

And while Houser's correction is somewhat of a relief, given that he says Rockstar does not apparently require crunch, there's still worrying language in his new comments. "No one, senior or junior, is ever forced to work hard," implies a viewpoint among Rockstar leadership that only developers who crunch are genuinely working hard. That kind of attitude fosters an environment where success, including promotions, can result in an expectation of crunch even if it's not officially required. The effects would be the same as requiring crunch. Other companies, including Bungie, have recognized this harm and gone to great lengths to eradicate crunch -- even when it's optional.

Undeniable is the fact that Rockstar has continued to release consistently popular and well-received games. And so long as Rockstar keeps doing that, it's unlikely that the greater gaming community will prove too unhappy no matter the company's working conditions.

Red Dead Redemption 2 releases October 25 on PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: Kotaku